UK & Europe Trip 2009

Day 14 Our last full day on our wonderful cruise. Come morning we opened our curtains to check out the weather and could not see a thing. The river was enveloped with fog and we wondered how the ship captain found his way to port. Thanks to radar we arrived safely in Vienna.

After breakfast we were taken by bus on a tour of Vienna followed by a walking tour through the city, including checking out where Mozart lived and St Stephen’s Cathedral. Lunch was at Vienna’s most famous wiener schnitzel restaurant. The schnitzels were the size of a large dinner plate (we shared one between two) and very scrumptious. The afternoon was spent wandering around the city, through the city park, catching the underground train back to the ship and relaxing in the brilliant sunshine (at last) on the sundeck, a very enjoyable day.

After our last evening meal (of schnitzel) we were escorted to a Vienna Concert of orchestral music (classical music performance of Mozart and Strauss), operatic singing and ballet – a great way to finish our cruise.

DAY 15 Today we finished packing, lingered over our final breakfast (taking careful note of the way the chef cooked my eggwhite omelet so I can replicate at home) and have begun to say our goodbyes to our cruise buddies. We now face many hours of waiting around at airports and watching onboard movies. But all worth it! It has been a fantastic holiday. Louth, London, Paris & Italy seem so long ago.

We feel we have done a lot and now are ready to go home. See you all soon.

The day started with a scenic cruise through the Wachau Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape representing one of the most beautiful stretches of river valleys in Europe, en route to Krems. Even though the weather was overcast, it was still a relaxing & beautiful area.

After lunch, we went on a wine tasting tour… the wines were “interesting” and did not inspire us to purchase any.

Since some in Australia were skeptical if we really did go bike riding on day 10, we did another bike ride and went for an hour ride along the Danube River.

Dinner was the formal Captains farewell dinner, another 5 course dinner… the Baked Alaska dessert was particularly palatable.. not sure what life will be like without 3 course breakfast, 3 course lunch & 4-5 course dinners….

Today was a good day, only had to wear 6 layers of clothes, rather than 8 (for John this equates to 3 layers instead of 5).. so warmer than previous days.

We toured around the 900 yr old Benedictine Abbey in Melk, Austria. Liz looked for Sean Connery at the Melk Abbey (re: Name of the Rose movie) however he was not to be seen.

Whilst an impressive building, with its baroque architecture, we did struggle with the excesses and lifestyle of the churches in the middle ages, building such large & costly buildings, covered with gold leaf. This 400 room abbey is home to only 40 monks, however they do run a school for 900 students in the abbey.

The evening ended with a local german blues/rock’n'roll band, singing well known (American) songs, so Liz got to dance again….

Today we were in Passau and took a walking tour around the historic city and heard a short recital of St. Stephen’s Cathedral organ, Europe’s largest pipe organ. We ignored the expected temperature forecast of 14, and dressed for 2-4 degrees (all 5-6 layers of clothes)…. and we were pretty right, it only got to 7 deg. Passau is a pretty town where several rivers merge into the Danube river.
In the afternoon, we took the optional tour and ventured through the Bavarian forest to the Bavarian Village Museum in Passau… a collection of 150 old farm houses & buildings that a person collects as a hobby to preserve the history of German farming. Each of the buildings were disassembled and relocated to the village, and displayed with original furniture as life would be back in 1500-1800’s.

Due to Liz’s cunningness, we were able to get the large table for dinner. In the restaurant, most tables are tables set 4 or 6 people, and one table seats 8. Even though there is an open seating policy on the boat (ie: no reserved seating), this large table has been commandeered by the same group of travelers every night, and they queue up 30 minutes early, each night to get it. So Liz got in early, and we were able to have an all Aussie table. There are a total of 16 Aussies onboard, out of 120 guests.

Regensburg, Germany – we walked around one of the finest medieval towns in Germany, capturing 2,000 years of living history with outstanding manmade monuments like the 12th-century stone bridge and the towering gothic cathedral. It was a dry day, a little overcast, and we dressed for the expected maximum temp of 11 degrees, only to find the top during our morning walk was 2 degrees !!!! ..chilling to the bones…

After a Bavarian lunch of bratwurst sausages, we were bold enough to venture out into the cold for an afternoon in Regensburg. The sun came out, and it was a barmy 3 degrees… however we decided to use the complimentary bicycles, and ride around Regensburg, it was a very pleasant afternoon …… see the pictures for the proof!!

We rode to the East German Art Gallery in Regensburg, and interesting gallery of contemporary & classical art, with lots of variety, addressing past & present social problems. John is still ponding the deeper meaning of what these 2 contemporary pictures are saying to the viewer ???!!!

The night ended with a great German guitarist/singer, whom also sang last week…. in many ways, on board activities from last week are being repeated this week, as 70% of the guests are new…. although we are really glad of cruising for 2 weeks, … one week would have been far too short.